Roots
by UnofficialLurker
Summary: AU where Jimmy O never found out who adopted Abel, and Jax never brought him back from Ireland


Note: Don't own anything. Just exploring a "what if"-thought

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He's in his twenties, just finished uni and wants some time before buckling down to a job and daily routine. So he takes the time to do something he's wanted to do since he was ten and his parents told him he was adopted, and that there was a letter for him, if he wanted it, telling him about his biological parents. And now he wants it, wants to know, to see where, who, he comes from, before he settles down, becomes too busy to even think about it.

The letter is written by a priest in Belfast, now many years dead, and tells him he was stolen. His parents don't know that, but they do know that his bio parents wanted to call him Abel, and they kept the name. He doesn't quite know what to think about his parents not being the ones who named him, when they were the ones who did everything else for him. The letter also tells him his father lives in Charming, California, and is called Jackson Teller.

He is shaking with nerves when the plane lands. He rents a car and starts driving, the GPS telling him where to go. He spends the night in a motel, thinking it looks like it does in American films. And that the coffee is awful.

Charming isn't what he expected, though he isn't really sure what he did expect. When he asks about where to find Jackson Teller and people look away, he starts to wonder if it really was a good idea to come. And maybe he should have done as his mother suggested and tried to find the man online before he went to the other side of the world?

A woman tells him to go to Teller-Morrow garage. He does, and is shocked by the sight of a huge reaper symbol, and the word Sons of Anarchy written out. There are motorcycles parked on the lot, and people milling about. Men in leather vests with the same reaper on the back, women in what is really way too little clothing to wear in public. He is, after all, a good catholic boy in his core.

An older man with scars on his cheeks asks Abel what he needs, and when Abel answers that he's looking for Jackson Teller, the man grins. He is told the man he's looking for is at home, something with his kid. But the house isn't hard to find, and otherwise he'll be at the garage in the morning.

He can't bring himself to go to his birthfather's house, not when the man has another family there. Instead, he sits at a café, drinking much better coffee than the motel had had. A police officer comes up, asks to join him, tells him he's heard Abel was asking for Jax Teller. It is the officer who tells him his birth father is a criminal, leader of the local biker club, and yes, they are one-percenters. It's also the officer who tells him that Teller is married to a doctor.

He spends the night agonizing about what to do. Around two thirty in the morning, he gives up on sleep, and instead starts looking up the man who provided half his genes. He finds articles about trials, gun smuggling, violence. He also finds a surprising amount of good things, about charity rides and fund raisers. He finds a marriage announcement, taking place when he was somewhere around three or four. The pictures show an attractive, blond man, sometimes with his doctor wife, a pretty brunette. He wonder is she is his mother. The letter said nothing about that.

He heads back to the garage around noon. And now, Jackson Teller is there. He looks older than on his pictures, has gone partially grey. He has long hair, a beard, plenty of tattoos, and is wearing the leather vest with the reaper on the back. He is talking to a younger, a little bit darker, version of himself, and when he grins, Abel can see himself.

The man from yesterday spots him, shouts out to the man Abel has realized is known as Jax, no matter what his birth certificate says. The man turns, then turns again, following the scarred man's gesture. And freezes. He says something to what has to be his son, Abel's brother, who obediently leaves. Then Abel's birth father walks up to him.

He is surprised at the tears in the man's light eyes, more surprised when he is immediately grasped gently around the neck. The man smiles. Says that he is so, so happy to see him. That he never thought he would.

They go to an office, and sits. The coffee is decent. And Abel asks what he's wanted to know since he was ten. Why?

And is told about a conflicted man, who in desperation gave up his son, because he wanted him to have a better life. And that the decision has been deeply regretted ever since it was final, ever since it couldn't be taken back. Then he's invited over for dinner that night, told that his father's wife would be so happy to see him again. That she tore a strip or two out of his father's skin for not bringing him home from Belfast.

He brings flowers and a bottle of wine. Feels ridiculous standing on doorstep of the president of a motorcycle gang with pink carnations. His wife opens, the pretty brunette he's seen pictures online of. She smiles, hugely, and hugs him close, close. Tells him to call her Tara, and how is he? What does he do? How is his heart? That's when he finds out she saved his life as a baby, that his biological mother was addicted to meth, and he was born premature and addicted himself.

He meets his brother, who is going to college, which surprises him. He is even more surprised when his father candidly tells him that he didn't ever want any of his children to follow in his footsteps, to go into the club life, even though, by now, they are mostly legit. Maybe there are some grey areas, he adds and his wife smacks his shoulder.

He meets his sister, who is in high school, and pretty as a picture. And, to his father's disgust, a cheerleader.

He talks late with his father, with the woman who for a brief time would have been his mother. And when he leaves, he does with a promise of visiting, and being visited. He never feels quite comfortable with who his biological father is, and doesn't ever really think about the man as his father. The crime, the violence he is so open about being guilty of, makes Abel uncomfortable. But he learns to accept that the man loves him, fiercely, still. And he likes Jax Teller, both despite and because of what he is.

He goes to Thomas' graduation from college, hears the hollers from the bikers in the crowd and knows they would have done the same for him. They do, in fact, do the same thing for him when he marries. His in-laws are horrified by the American bikers, and his parents worried about having his other parents there, how that will affect him. He has met his birth mother a few times by then. She's unmarried, but in a relationship for many years, and he likes them both.

He does wonder, from time to time, what would have happened had his biological father taken him back. How his life would have looked as the heir to a biker club. Overall, he is grateful he doesn't know.

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Thank you for reading, and please leve comments/feedback. I makes me happy.


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